Hi all,

We have an extension method that determines whether a LinkItem is referring to an internal object, and another method that attempts to retreive the ContentReference for that LinkItem, as below:

/// 

        /// Checks whether a LinkItem refers to an internal object.
        /// 
        /// 
        /// 
        public static bool IsInteral(this LinkItem linkItem)
        {
            if (linkItem == null)
                throw new ArgumentNullException("linkItem", "LinkItem cannot be null");

            return ToContentReference(linkItem) != ContentReference.EmptyReference || linkItem.Href.StartsWith("~/link", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
        }

        /// 

        /// Returns a ContentReference for a LinkItem.
        /// 
        /// 
        /// 
        public static ContentReference ToContentReference(this LinkItem linkItem)
        {
            if (linkItem == null)
                return ContentReference.EmptyReference;

            var urlBuilder = new UrlBuilder(linkItem.Href);
            return PermanentLinkMapStore.ToMapped(urlBuilder)
            ? PermanentLinkUtility.GetContentReference(urlBuilder)
            : ContentReference.EmptyReference;
        }

You'll notice in the IsInternal method there is a call to the StartsWith extension - that's because we like to think of references to deleted content as still being internal (it was internal at one point) - that way we can filter using a set of standard content filters we use. Plus, it feels pretty safe as it is impossible to enter "~/link/guid.aspx" into one of the external page/email address options in a linkitem collection - they are always appended with a protocol.

The problem we're experiencing is that unfortunately the ToContentReference method doesnt work when a LinkItem refers to a page that has no template. I get why - the SoftLinks reposittory only stores links to internal content that actually has a template and therefore a valid Url - that seems logical. However when a page without a template is stored within a LinkItemCollection the url returned for that item is /episerver/CMS/edit/PreviewContainerPage.aspx which gives us absolutely no way of retreiving the ContentReference for that item - or none that I can think of anyway.

I realise that some people will say pages without a template shouldn't exist in a LinkItemCollection but whilst it's possible via the UI our codebase should at least cover all scenarios.

Can anyone help with this little conundrum?

Many thanks

Al